Facing The Critics
by robert3A-SN
Summary: Annie tells the hotel staff the truth about her Mrs. Winger act to clear Jeff's good name. However, when the staff turns on her and accuses her of being a lovesick, regressing little girl, Jeff steps up to defend her good name. Contains 403 spoilers, rebuttals to mainstream critics who hated 403 and Annie's subplot.


**This is set after 403, and is really a rebuttal to how most mainstream critics hated the episode, hated the Jeff/Annie subplot and accused Annie of regressing – although most fans seemed to like it. Yet their take was unfair, missed the point, was unfair to Annie and didn't put anything in the proper context. And this is from someone who lived in fear for weeks that this episode would do exactly what they said it did to Annie – and even wrote two stories before 403 to correct it before it came out.**

**But now I am completing my 403 'rebuttal trilogy' by defending it, Annie and Jeff/Annie in one long, extended metaphor against those various critics.**

Jeff had already done so much to make things right with Annie. Willingly order an apple-tini, strip his shirt off for Thoraxis loving nerds – even if that wasn't _just _for Annie. So before she and Jeff left the hotel, she wanted to make things right on his behalf.

With that, once Annie and Jeff escaped the Thoraxis fans and got to the lobby, she set out to look for someone. Fortunately, she quickly found Randy and many other hotel staff members she'd lied to today.

She signaled for Jeff to follow her, which he did despite not knowing what for.

"Mrs. Winger!" Randy called out before his co-workers noticed her too.

"Hi Randy! Matt, Sean, Blair, Erik," Annie greeted the rest. "I wanted to thank you guys for everything before we left."

"What's he doing here?" Matt asked as he noticed Jeff. "Is getting to cut his horny parts off our reward? Because that's rightfully your job."

"Yeah, go back to that bad accent part of England, cheater!" Sean ordered.

"I took my shirt off and wasted my fifth best pose on nerds. I might as well have cut my 'horny parts' off myself. So since I'm humiliated enough, this sticky wicket is over, right Annie?" Jeff insisted.

"It will be, Jeff," Annie assured before turning back to the staff. "Guys, I have a confession. I'm not Mrs. Winger."

"Oh my God, he cheated on his fiancée?" Blair jumped to conclusions. "Okay, I get the first cut after all!"

"No, he's not my fiancée or boyfriend or anything! I made it all up," Annie cleared up. "Jeff is just my friend, and my fellow student at Greendale Community College. He ordered my room under his name, but he wanted to leave early. So I stayed and pretended to be his wife."

"Under his orders?" Erik guessed.

"No, it was all my idea. I fantasized about being Jeff's wife. It was all an act," Annie made clearer. "When you showed me he was talking to another woman, I threw those drinks to keep up the lie. And maybe for other reasons, but they aren't important right now," she brushed aside for everyone's benefit.

"Wait, I cheered for you and he wasn't even cheating?" Randy realized.

"No, Randy, he wasn't. I let you think he was a cheater just to cover up my lie. But I'm stopping that now," Annie stated. "Jeff isn't a rotten husband. Hell, he never wants to be _any_ husband! He's many things, but he's not the cheating jackass you think he was. I wanted you to know that before we go."

As the hotel workers and Jeff let that sink in, Annie finished, "I'm sorry I lied to you guys. And I'm sorry I made you look bad, Jeff."

Jeff was at a loss for words at Annie going above and beyond like this, just so some strangers wouldn't hate him.

However, they weren't at a loss for words for long. And by then, their hate had gone somewhere else.

"But you were so nice!" Sean declared. "We stuck up for you and you lied? We went against our deepest held beliefs about infidelity, and you _lied?!_ That's just sick!"

"Okay, it was wrong, but it wasn't _sick_," Annie clarified.

"Yes it was!" Matt jumped in. "You made up some fantasy about being married? To an old guy who's not even your boyfriend? What are you, 16?"

"22, actually," Jeff interjected. "But that's just six years off. At least you can still do math at a 1'st grade level," he tried to joke before the mood got worse.

"Jeff, don't make it worse," Annie refused to laugh.

"Yeah, we're back on your side, so don't waste it," Matt continued. "You've clearly got enough to deal with from this crazy little girl."

"Hey, wait a minute!" Annie frowned. "You all loved me a minute ago, and now I'm a crazy little girl to you?"

"That's when we thought you were an adult, world famous police detective. Not some stalker schoolgirl with a crush," Blair said.

"I am not a schoolgirl or a stalker, okay?" Annie fought back.

"But you do have a crush. You didn't deny that," Erik pointed out.

"I _did_, okay? I kissed him two years ago, he rejected me, it was mostly in my head, no big deal," Annie stated.

Jeff had been quiet before, but now he was too surprised and stunned – and some other things – to talk. Yet the hotel staff, with the exception of a still silent Randy, wasn't quieting down.

"But you pretended to be his husband. That's even worse, right? That's like the worst kind of regression," Matt theorized.

"Hey, I've only done that six times. This was my first time in months, even!" Annie argued. "And my Zac Efron fantasies outnumber his twice over! Okay, that didn't help anything…." she realized too late.

"I don't believe this. We got taken in like that by a child. How messed up are we?" Matt asked.

"You don't want me to answer that right now, okay?" Jeff warned.

"It's okay, Mr. Winger, you don't have to be afraid of her anymore," Sean assured.

"Sean! Seriously?" Annie sputtered out. "First of all –"

"Don't even try those little kid games, you've done enough," Blair shot down.

"What, I can't defend myself without being a kid?" Annie asked.

"Clearly not, if Mrs. Winger meant anything," Erik stated.

"It didn't. It's….that's not me," Annie weakened.

"You could have fooled us, but we're done being fooled," Matt declared. "We know your type, 'Mrs. Winger.' Granted, that gives us less of an excuse for being fooled, but we're willing to admit it. _We _don't pretend to be something we're not."

"It's not something I do all the time," Annie defended.

"If you're really an adult, you shouldn't do it at all," Sean stated. "But you're clearly just another love sick, immature girl. If you weren't, you wouldn't pine over someone who's clearly too old for you. And who's already hurt you, from what it sounds like."

"Wait a minute-" Jeff started before being cut off.

"Yeah, it makes you sound like you're growing _down,_ not growing up," Blair chimed in. "Have you even had a real adult relationship? Have you even _tried_ to be more of a person, other than how he sees you? Are you that sad and pathetic to hang onto something _clearly _unhealthy?"

"You don't know what you're talking about…." Annie trailed off, unable to think of anything better.

"Don't we?" Erik said matter-of-factly. "We've seen this over and over, so we know what we're talking about."

"It's the same old story," Matt added. "Girl wants to get married, boy pacifies her, but has no business adding to her delusion. It's more like inertia than anything real. If you haven't acknowledged you're totally wrong for him by now, you really are a kid."

"I am not!" Annie yelled back.

"Yeah, that wasn't kid like at all," Matt scoffed. "No adult would make up those lies, or make us look stupid for ever liking you. You're just not smart or mature enough to ever grow up, if that's the crap you're pulling at 22."

"Why are you signaling _me _out?" Annie tried to fight back, although her voice was getting shakier. "If I'm just like any other little kid, why haven't you yelled at them?"

"Because they didn't delude us into thinking they're something more," Erik answered.

"But why take it _this _personally? Why are you trying to make me feel bad _this _much?" Annie powered through.

"To be fair, it's not just you," Randy finally had the guts to speak. "We had a really good boss get forced out recently. Daniel 'stepping down' hit us all really hard. Maybe they're going over the top to make up for his loss, _right _guys?"

"What's the difference? It doesn't change who she is. If she's regressing this much, she's clearly never growing up," Matt said.

Annie wanted to say something back, but she was spending much of her energy trying not to cry. Like that would help her dwindling case any further.

"Okay, you've made your point over and over, that's enough," Randy called for mercy.

"After the way she strung us along? The way she made us forget how much hotels need cheaters? She's the biggest cheater of all!" Matt kept going. "She's just another carbon copy, deluded, lovesick, crazy, girly child and nothing more!"

"That's not true."

Annie could barely hear that through her heartbeat, and her inner voice telling her not to cry. The staff could barely hear it over their righteous fury. Yet when Jeff stepped forward, wearing a seemingly passive but icy look on his face, they got his message.

"Annie Edison isn't a carbon copy of anything. That's beneath her," Jeff said in his most serious tone.

"Mr. Winger, don't let her crying game make you stick up for her. She ruined your shot with a total hottie, she wrecked your hair, and she made you do lame child stuff. You don't have to be manipulated by her," Sean assured.

"I'm one of the great manipulators this town has ever known. That means I don't do _anything _I don't really want to do deep down. And I _want _to do _this_ very badly," Jeff warned.

"Do what?" Matt tempted him to explain.

"Set the record straight on what you missed about Annie. You're lucky I'm doing it with my mouth first. For now," Jeff said.

"She pretended to be married to an older man! An older man she should have gotten over! Hell, doing that for_ any_ man is child's crap! There's no missing what that says about her," Matt insisted.

"Yeah, and who are _you _to explain otherwise? If she was such a grown up, she'd be saying this herself, not making her sugar daddy do whatever she wants," Blair added.

"And yet you said she can't defend herself without looking like a kid. So where does that leave her? If you're going to be a delusional half-wit, be consistent about it," Jeff quipped.

"Right, _we're _delusional," Matt retorted.

"Not entirely. You just don't know a few things," Jeff began. "Like how this 'child' picked herself up from Adderall addiction, from being shunned in high school, and from being warped by an appearance obsessed mother. And yet at the worst point of her life, she defied her mother, got clean in public, survived being kicked out, survived living above a sex shop, and has almost survived freaking _Greendale_. What 'kid' can do all that?"

"That makes no difference," Matt declared. "If anything, that makes it _more _inexcusable to act like a kid."

"She's _never _been a kid. Not like you or me," Jeff argued. "She was too busy studying, being bullied, having a broken home and having no real friends to be a normal kid. These last few years are the first time she's had a real childhood. Why shouldn't she get to live it however she wants, no matter how old she is? She's done enough _adult _things to earn some respect for that."

"Then why doesn't _she _have the respect to stop fawning over you?" Erik asked. "You were too cool for Inspector Spacetime, and she goes into fantasy world? How is that not insane?"

"That's what I would have asked. Unless I didn't know Annie," Jeff said. "Granted, that makes me look stupid for not seeing this earlier. But in my defense….Thoraxis. That's all I need to say on that."

Most of the staff actually seemed to agree – on _that _they took pity. Nevertheless, Jeff readied himself to squander their pity.

"Annie wanted to go on an adult vacation. One that _I _invited her to. And _I _happen to be someone who's called her a child too many times. Most of them unfairly. Then I go and trash something she's interested in, and equate her to a bunch of nerds for liking it. To her, it was like I said I was _still_ too cool to hang out with a little kid. Even after I made her think I finally knew better. Even though I _have _known better for a long time," Jeff admitted.

"But it's not like I've ever told her that with words, so what _could _she believe? Why else wouldn't she finally have enough of reality? So she went to a fantasy land where I could see her as a real woman. Only _after _I made her think the real me could never do that after all," Jeff theorized.

"Jeff, I don't know if I thought all that when I did it," Annie corrected, through her shock and budding tears – but not just sad tears now.

"You did tell me your husband would finally see you as a woman on this trip," Randy interjected, which made Jeff clench his jaw a bit.

"There you go. It was like I led her on yet again. Especially when _you_ showed her I preferred a strange nerd woman's company. So she did what any scorned woman would do. What she should have done even worse to me a few times already," Jeff confessed.

"Irrelevant," Matt declared anyway. "If she wanted to be seen as an adult, then she shouldn't have pretended like a child. There is no excuse for that hypocrisy."

"Maybe they have me there," Annie admitted.

"No they don't. Boys, girls, men _and _women of _all_ ages have fantasies at some point. They don't get trashed for it like you just did. At least I hope not," Jeff insisted.

"They don't take it as far as she did," Blair said.

"That's because she's committed. Annie never does _anything _half-assed. Whether it's school work or acting or being there for a friend," Jeff informed. "True, not half-assing stuff is really stupid most of the time. But it's not stupid _all _the time because of people like Annie. Her full commitment to everything makes her brilliant, and it makes everyone she helps with that gift even better. Even people who barely need improvement. Not on the _fun _stuff, anyway."

Before Annie could question that or get her voice back, Jeff added, "Anyway, trashing her commitment to an act is like trashing her whole work ethic. And it doesn't deserve to be trashed for any reason."

"Oh come on, she used it to act like your wife!" Matt reminded. "And she told us you hate marriage. How does the suggestion of being married _not _piss you off?"

That was a really good question. Annie had been too stunned and flattered on that couch to really ask that herself. But now, she had to remember how out of character it was for Jeff to be _that _comfortable with the m word. With anything concerning her and the future together.

"You're right. It's out of character for me," Jeff admitted. "Do you know what I said when she told me the truth? I said if we were married, you'd never find me flirting with another woman at a hotel bar."

Annie was stunned he remembered that word for word. Maybe it was too big for him not to remember so well. Or just too soon, or something else that wasn't as meaningful.

"That's been ringing in my head for hours, because I _don't _say things like that. But I meant every single word. And I _will _keep those words if we ever get married."

Or it was something like that.

"Wait, you're saying you _want _to be her husband?" Matt asked with a disgusted tone.

"Now I didn't say _that,_" Jeff backtracked, which barely surprised Annie. "I don't want any part of marriage, that's still on the record. But _if _I wanted it, it'd have to be with someone just like Annie."

"Like a kid?" Erik asked.

"For the love of…." Jeff groaned. Whether he was actually relieved to get to another subject – or whether Annie herself was relieved – she couldn't say.

Yet he went to that next subject by saying, "You see her act like a kid _once, _and that's what she is all the time? Trust me, that way of thinking does more harm than good."

"We don't know that other stuff. Everything we've _seen _with our own _eyes _tells us she's a lying little girl. For all we know, you're reading into things that aren't there," Sean declared.

"And there's _a lot_ you don't know. Or just refuse to believe," Jeff argued. "Like how when I confronted her, she admitted the truth and told me how she felt, like an adult. Like how she could have let you believe I was a cheating jackass, but _she _came to_ you _and took responsibility! I'm a so-called 'adult' and I would _never _do that if I'd gotten away with it! At least not without people like her to make me."

"To make you. So she's trying to change you, then! How little girly of her," Erik mocked.

Before Annie was ready to start arguing again, Jeff stepped back in. "Annie has done many things for me. But she's _never _tried to change me. I told you before, I don't do things I don't want to do way, way, way, way, _way way _deep down. Annie sees the deep down and shows me it's okay to look too. _Sometimes_. You can misread it as her 'changing me' if it makes you comfortable, but I like my truthful version. And I'm starting to like who I am because of it."

"You know, you were much cooler as a flirting cheater. Now you sound lame," Sean complained.

"But you didn't sell your coolness with a lie like she did, so you're still better," Blair said.

"God, enough with the lie! What's it gonna take to make you people see past that?" Jeff groaned. "You saw _one _series of questionable actions from her. Actions that were partly _my _fault. If you got to see _all_ the big adventures she's been through, you'd think a lot different about her. But you know what? Even if you did, you'd probably _still _get her all wrong!"

"Oh, I doubt that," Matt scoffed.

"Well, _I_ did, so don't doubt that _too_ much," Jeff revealed. "I wasted too much time ignoring that stuff. So did almost everyone she's ever met. Because of ignorance like that, she spent the first 18 years of her life being alone and lonely. And she was too smart and decent to drown out the pain with fancy stuff, jobs, clothes, booze and sex partners for decades. Like some people _might _do. But that's a crime she shouldn't have to pay for anymore. You and idiots like you made her think that _way _too long."

Jeff went into full on Winger speech mode – in everything but the content. "You saw something without the proper context and assumed the worst. Those who _know_ Annie Edison have the foresight to see more. To know no matter what mistakes or so-called 'regression' she goes through, she's too smart, strong, brave, kind, fearless, wise and surprisingly fun to let it define her. And I'm tired of trying."

Annie let Jeff keep talking, as she was too numb to do much of anything else. "The only excuse not to know that is that you don't know her. If you knew her for four years and _still _think that stupid crap from this one event, then you _would_ be a lost cause. As a former lost cause myself, I take comfort in knowing that, and_ her_, so much better than you do."

This truly was unlike any Winger speech. Unlike most any speech Jeff had given in his whole life. Both in the context, and in the reaction it got from the target audience.

"Oh my God….you're _creepy," _Matt squirmed along with the others, except for the spectator Randy.

"All that fawning over a girl. No wonder she's so delusional. You encourage her to be sick because _you're _sick!" Erik declared.

"Oh for God's sake! How can four people get so much wrong from one speech?" Jeff growled.

"Quiet, perv! You had our sympathy and you blew it, so deal with it," Sean said.

"Okay, fine, I'm a perv, it's nothing I didn't tell myself for three years," Jeff conceded. "But for the record, another _woman_ friend of mine came here with a _boyfriend_ that's _nine years_ younger than her. Just to put things in proper context again."

"But _that's _hot," Matt said. "That would make a great TV show, even. You could probably set it in Florida with a bunch of wine. Your thing is just _wrong_."

"The only reason you still have teeth is because I thought that too," Jeff warned. "But misguided beliefs can change."

"Not _those_ beliefs. Not from a guy like you," Matt stated. "You made yourself look like a selfish, horny, uncaring jackass when we met you. Now we have to accept you've turned into some lovey dovey boyfriend? For a girl who deluded herself into being your wife? That's beyond belief, pal!"

"That's right," Sean backed up. "No guy realistically changes like that. Not for reasons other than sex, anyway. So don't you trick us different just because you like 'em young, perv guy."

"Take that back."

Jeff could barely hear that through his angry heartbeat. The staff could barely hear it over their righteous fury. Yet when Annie stepped forward, wearing a seemingly passive but icy look on her face, they got her message.

"I won't let you disrespect Jeff that way. So just don't do it," Annie requested without even saying please.

"Oh, now she speaks up. She won't defend herself, even if she could, but she'll twirl her skirt around to defend him. How co-dependent can you get?" Matt asked rhetorically.

Yet Annie still answered, "Shut up, Matt," in a growl Jeff had never heard from her.

"Watch your tone, young lady," Sean warned.

"Oh, _now _I'm a young lady, good to know. Maybe now you'll listen and leave Jeff alone," Annie demanded. "You can say all the wrong things about me you want. Maybe some of it is even right. But don't you _dare _do that to him."

"Because he's your dirty old man?" Blair mocked.

"Because he's a good man," Annie corrected. "And he's right. I jumped to conclusions and thought he was judging me by not hanging out with me. Like he always used to do. But that's not who he is anymore. He's shown me that all year so far, and it's _not _out of character. I've seen his character for years, so I think I know it better than you do."

"So flirting with another woman, even if he loves you _so much_, is in character too?" Matt challenged.

"I didn't say it was perfect yet. He never will be, but that's okay. In fact, it's better than any fantasy I've ever had," Annie declared. "Those fantasy versions I've had of Jeff, or Troy, or Zac are too perfect to be real. They're flawless male Gods, and those sadly don't exist. Not when it comes to stuff other than abs, anyway."

"Typical, always the abs with these girls," Erik muttered.

"With good reason, so lay off the abs. You've committed enough crimes against taste today," Jeff warned.

"Thanks for that, Jeff," Annie actually mustered some sarcasm. "Anyway, those fantasy guys weren't flawed. I didn't make them flawed because there were enough flawed people in my real life. But Jeff has _so _many flaws _and_ he's stillan incredible person. That makes him better than a fantasy."

She put Jeff square in her sights and addressed, "He's seen the worst in people and himself, and he still chooses to make himself better and better. That's no fantasy….it makes him just like me. Or at least like the person I want to be."

"Okay, how is that _not _lovesick delusion?" Matt still didn't get it.

"It's me giving my friend his due. No matter what else he is, he's my _friend_ first," Annie argued. "He's one of the best friends I've ever had. I wouldn't have _any _of the only real friends I've ever had if it wasn't for him. If I'm really the person he said I was, it's only possible because I know them, and especially him."

Now Matt had to step back as Annie walked in closer, with rage and determination that no child could match. "You want to believe the worst about me, fine. You want to ignore everything that contradicts what you think I am, fine! You believe what you want, but you leave Jeff Winger out of it RIGHT NOW!"

Annie spoke with a fire she'd only reserved for studying. In fact, it went beyond even that. Jeff knew that better than anyone here, yet was blown away in many new ways.

And yet Sean said, "All that for a guy. You really have no self-worth of your own, do you?"

Erik, Blair and even Matt nodded in agreement, while Jeff all but jumped up and down in frustration. "Are you kidding me?! All that evidence, all those speeches and you…..God, there's no reasoning with you people!"

"I'm starting to get that idea, Jeff," Annie said, far less emotionally. "We might as well go."

"Ah, running away because you have no real defense," Matt declared.

"You know what, Matt? I had a far better day than I ever expected, and you've nitpicked it enough," Annie let him know. "I apologized, I took responsibility and I learned from my mistakes. That's who I am and it's worked fine for me. I know who I am and I know it even more after today."

"Because of what _he_ said. So co-dependent," Blair scorned.

"Fine. Whatever. I've said and done enough to convince you. I feel like I've been doing it for four years," Annie sighed. "But if nothing can convince you who I really am, or who he really is…."

She trailed off, but then delivered her closing statement in her most defiant face and voice. "Screw you guys, I'm going home."

Annie turned and headed for the hotel door with a purpose. Jeff barely remembered to follow her, then taunted, "Who's the kid now?" and stuck his tongue out mockingly before storming away.

When he was almost out, he thought he heard Randy _finally _speak up, snapping out of a trance like Jeff and Annie had done earlier. If they were any indication, the staff was going to get chewed out yet again, only by one of their own. Jeff stayed at the door to hear Randy start chewing, but he quickly remembered to catch up to Annie.

Eventually, Jeff found Annie in the parking lot, marching towards his car. He used the power of his long legs to catch up to her, leaving himself just enough breath to ask, "Are you okay? Do your boots have too much of their asses on you?"

"How dare they say that," Annie muttered.

"I know, but they just don't know you. They refused to even find out, and people like that are just –" Jeff got cut off.

"I meant that stuff about you!" Annie corrected. "I've heard that stuff about me all my life. And no one _ever _stuck up for me when they said it. Not like that. Not my parents, not my high school friends. Not even you or the group until today."

"Well, it didn't mean no one was _thinking _it," Jeff uncomfortably said.

"That's all they did, though. Maybe that's why I fantasize about not being alone, or being appreciated. I never thought that could happen in real life. Not like you just did it," Annie lamented.

"I kind of know how that feels," Jeff let himself admit.

"Then you do that for me, and they say _crap _like that to you? How dare they! Why would I let that slide when you didn't?!" Annie growled.

She had struggled to keep her emotions in check, in front of people who all thought she was a child at one point or another. Now it was almost too much, yet she muttered, "Stop it, Annie," as a few stray tears fell.

Yet there was only one person left to do that for, and he didn't care one way or the other anymore.

With that in mind, Jeff gave Annie a one-armed hug, and unspoken permission to let her tears out – even on his clothes. She then let out whatever emotions she didn't unleash on the staff a few minutes earlier. To her relief, she only cried a few tears and took a few deep breaths on Jeff's shirt.

"Those jackasses back there don't know you," Jeff started. "Even if they did, they'd still ignore the _important _stuff. Hell, after years with you, _I _didn't know you! Or at least I didn't want to admit I did. To _anyone_. But…."

"It's okay, Jeff," Annie promised. "They weren't _entirely_ wrong. But I'll learn from my mistakes like I always do. That's the best anyone can do if they really want to be better, right?"

"And you always want to learn, that much I do know," Jeff said with a little chuckle. Annie even laughed a bit against him before breaking apart.

"You don't have anything to be ashamed of, Annie. It wasn't a mistake. At least not one that says you're a little girl. Or anything less than what you _really_ are. I would have told you if it did on the couch, remember?" Jeff recalled.

"You had more than enough chances to, but you didn't," Annie remembered. "After all this time, you can still surprise me."

"I've got a long way to catch up to you on that," Jeff promised. "Until then, let's not let people like them make us into something we're not anymore, okay?"

"I won't if you won't," Annie assured. Jeff smiled like he did on the couch and for much of their drink together.

But he was still compelled to break the mood and joke, "And _there's_ my melodramatic limit for the day. We should go home and get it recharged."

"Ah, okay. Hope the price didn't go up while we were gone," Annie tried to joke.

"I think we've got enough to spare anyway," Jeff said. He then paused carefully and cautiously added, "Maybe there's even enough left to get dinner back at Greendale."

"Like take out?" Annie assumed.

"Or take in at a nice restaurant, either one," Jeff said with uncharacteristic shyness.

Annie's stunned silence was more characteristic of her. When she took it in, the first thought that popped into her head – and out of her mouth – was, "Like a date?" She then winced at phrasing it that way, yet noticed that Jeff only flinched after she did.

"Jeff, you don't have to go that far," Annie recovered. "I'm fine, I really am. You don't have to offer stuff like that to make me happy."

Surprisingly, Jeff didn't flinch when he answered, "Who said it would only make _you _happy?"

Annie's breath caught in her throat, as she felt lucky she was emotionally drained right now. All she could get out was, "Jeff, I can't keep my mind under control if you say things like that."

"It's _my _mind that's the problem, not yours. I mean, not in _that _way," Jeff backtracked and sighed. "You're smart, right? Is there a word that says I want to take you on something less than a date…..but that's more than friendly? With the option of something more later? When I'm a little more ready?"

Jeff nearly blurted out something about Thanksgiving. But before he was tempted, Annie slowly started to smile and say, "I think that sounds about right."

That sounded just right for Annie to say and decide, and Jeff seemed to like how it sounded too. That kind of feeling was so blinding, even those stupid hotel people could have seen it in front of their faces.

But they weren't here to judge her way too much, and Jeff was here to accept her. All of her. And be more than friendly with her.

Before she could ruin it with cheering or crying or saying the wrong thing, Annie finished walking to his car. Jeff caught on and followed her, then unlocked the car and Annie opened the front door for him.

"There you are…." Annie paused for a brief second. She almost called him "Mr. Winger" to make fun of today's events, but that didn't seem like the right thing to reference. Something else sounded better – something she hadn't referenced for far too long.

She capped her statement off with, "Milord."

Jeff's face softened even more than it had all day. "Thank you. Mi_lady_."

Annie didn't miss his emphasis at the end. She carried it with her as she got into the passenger's seat. "I like that name way better than Mrs. Winger."

"Oh, and I spoke so highly of you in the divorce," Jeff joked, with an ease that almost no longer surprised Annie.

"Not like that. I like it because you came up with it. Because it's how someone important to me, and someone who knows me, really sees me," Annie praised.

Jeff bit back a big smile and quipped, "Do you have a full chamber of those for the ride home?"

"You've got no choice but to find out now, don't you?" Annie teased.

With no better retort for that, Jeff started the car. Annie sat back and relaxed, vowing to save some of her chamber for dinner. Until then, she would rest and enjoy the ride home – home to those who truly knew her, accepted and understood her.


End file.
